


If You Love Me Like Music I'll Be Your Song

by unknowntrombone



Series: March 2015 Promptathon [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:19:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3542531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowntrombone/pseuds/unknowntrombone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When attacked by Ursula and Cruella in the middle of the night, Belle is forced to summon Rumpelstiltskin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Love Me Like Music I'll Be Your Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MelissaBosquez](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelissaBosquez/gifts).



Ever since she sent her husband across the town line. Belle had given up having a consistent schedule. She ate when she was hungry and often delayed sleep until the wee hours of the night. It was midnight when she finally bade Will Scarlet farewell, put on a nightgown, brushed her teeth, and went to the bed in the back room of the shop.   

After an hour of fitful sleep, she heard a ‘thump’ followed by the unmistakable sound of a jingling collar. Belle sighed, wondering if Pongo had escaped from Archie’s backyard again. Then she remembered that Archie was not the only canine enthusiast in Storybrooke at the moment. Trying not to panic, she grabbed the Toadify next to her bedside. Then, after a few minutes of deliberation, she took out a small wooden box from under the bed. The box had an enchanted lock, which only she could open. Inside the box, on top of a velvet lining, was her ex-husband’s dagger. Hands shaking, Belle held the spray in her right hand and the dagger in her left.

The door to the backroom creaked, but nobody entered. Belle crept toward the entrance, trying not to alert whoever, or whatever was there to her presence. Then she saw, snaking across the ground, a green tentacle. With a shriek, she ran to the back door, only to be confronted by a large mastiff. The dog knocked her down before she could use the spray. Belle cursed herself silently for not putting better magical protection on the doors of the shop. As the tentacle was wrapping itself around her legs, she called out frantically to the dagger: _‘Rumpelstiltskin! Rumpelstiltskin! Rumpelstiltskin!’_ but she knew full well that he was far away and could never return.

Then the tentacle shot up across her body, across her chest and her left arm. She felt the bones in her left wrist break, followed by blinding pain. In an instant, the dagger had been ripped from her hand and was no longer in her possession. Belle was picked up and dragged through the door to the front of the shop. Inside were Ursula, Cruella…and Rumpelstiltskin. Her husband was holding his hand aloft and appeared to be choking Cruella with his magic. His mouth was pulled back into a snarl and his eyes burned with fury.

“Stop!” Ursula shouted. Rumple’s hands dropped to his sides. Then his eyes darted toward Ursula and the anger on his face was replaced with a look of pure terror.       

 

“Looks like all we had to do to get the Dark One’s dagger was give his maid a little scare,” Ursula said to Cruella in a mocking tone.

“It would appear so darling,” Cruella replied. “Bring it over here will you sweetheart, so I can get a better look at it.”

The tentacle that was holding the dagger moved toward Cruella. She then grabbed it and twirled it around in her gloved hands, admiring it like another diamond in her collection.

“My my, what a pretty thing. I love the way it shines when it catches the light. So tell me imp, when I hold this, do you have to do everything I say?”

Rumple swallowed and, in a small wavering voice, said: “Yes.”

“Mhmmm…well then… _Sit,”_ Ursula commanded. Rumple’s legs gave way and he fell to the ground. “ _Lie down.”_ His torso and head collided with the shop’s wooden floor. “ _Roll over.”_ Rumple flipped onto his belly and then back upward. Belle then looked away, the pain in her wrist and revulsion over watching the display were making her feel ill.

“It seems you got yourself a new pet,” Belle heard Ursula say.

“Yes indeed darling,” Cruella replied. “And he’s just as easy to command as the rest of my dogs. Now my pet, would you like a treat?”

Belle looked back at Rumple, who was still on the ground. He had now curled into himself and was burying his head in his arms, presumably so none of the women in the room could see the look of fear and humiliation on his face. Belle may have cast him out, but she still loathed watching him suffer like this. He was, after all, the man she had once loved.

“No,” Rumple whimpered into his sleeve.

“Well once I tell you what it is, you just might change your mind. I’m going to give you the chance to take the heart of this two-timing, cheating, whore and crush it into dust. Would you want that?”

Rumple looked up at his captor and Belle saw that tears were falling from his face. “No! Please!” He sobbed.

“Why not? She cast you out and betrayed you. You _saw_ her locking lips with the Knave. Do you still love her even after all that?” Cruella asked. Belle had done nothing of the sort. A few days ago, she did give her friend Will Scarlet a small goodbye kiss on the cheek, but they both knew that was strictly platonic.

“Yes!” Rumple exclaimed.

“How pathetic!” Ursula said with a dismissive laugh. Then she looked over at Cruella. “Let me do it dear.” Then she took the dagger back and, with her tentacle, waved it cruelly just out of Rumple’s reach.

“This is for all the times you ate my food, left your underwear on the floor of the bathroom, and spilled your ramen all over the sink!” Ursula exclaimed. “You seriously were a terrible roommate Rumpelstiltskin.”

 Cruella chuckled to herself. “Why Ursula, you’re absolutely divine!”

Ursula gave her an affectionate smile, then turned back to Rumple. “Now my dear Dark One, I command you to-“

Belle then hit Ursula with a spray of Toadify right in the face. While she had been ranting to Rumple about his beastly living habits, Belle had been slowly wrenching her hand free and aiming the Toadify at the Sea Witch. As much as she despised it, Belle had to admit that it was useful how every villain she had ever known always underestimated her. Belle fell to the ground as Ursula became a palm-sized, warty, green toad. 

Rumple used his magic to propel the dagger back into his hands before Cruella or Belle could do anything. Then he stood up and looked right at Cruella.

“You let me into this town, and for that I will spare your life, but if you _ever_ try to hurt Belle again, you will _wish_ that I hadn’t!” He snarled.

“But what of Ursula? She can’t stay a toad forever!” Cruella whined.

Rumple smirked. “There is only one way to break that curse dearie! Now go before I change my mind!”

Cruella lifted Ursula off of the ground and scurried through the shop door.

Rumple walked over to where Belle was still lying on the ground. She held her broken wrist in her other hand and was grimacing. He knelt down and pressed both his hands against her wrist. Magic flew out of them and it was healed instantly.

“Belle, are you alright?” He asked.

She gave a small nod. “Thank you for saving my life,” she added.

He looked away and she saw the guilt on his face. “You saved your own life. I, on the other hand, nearly killed you,” he said.

“You would not have killed me if you had a choice,” Belle argued.

“But I didn’t have a choice!” he retorted. “As long as that dagger exists, there is a chance that someone will use it, and me, against you. That is why the gauntlet led you to it in the first place. It is my greatest weakness. Always has been and always will be.”

“You said that the gauntlet led a person to the thing they loved most!”

“ _Sometimes,_ a person’s greatest weakness is the thing they love most.” Then he gave her a sad smile. “If the gauntlet led you to the thing I loved most, then it would not have led you anywhere.” More tears fell from his face and his voice began to shake. “ _You_ are the thing that I love most.”

He tried to touch her but she pulled away. Belle could not reconcile this genuine display of affection with the behavior she had observed the last time they were together. He had lied to her, tried to murder people behind her back, and cooperated with the Snow Queen even as she threatened to destroy the entire town.

“Rumple, if that was true, you would not have lied to me. You did things that you knew I would not like and told me nothing about them,” she told him. 

“Everything I did was to free myself of the dagger, so that you could have been safe. That required me to do ugly, nasty things. If you knew about them, the guilt would have followed you for the rest of your life.”

“So you thought it best that I did not?” Belle asked.

“Yes.”

She shook her head. “Rumple, you can’t just make decisions like that for me. We could have talked about it.”

“And then what? You would have told me not to do it. I would have done it anyway. Same result. That’s what happened when—“ he stopped himself.

“That’s what happened when you killed Zelena,” Belle finished.  

Rumple threw up his hands and looked defensive. “Before you say anything, she kept me as her slave for a year. She kept me from attending Bae’s funeral. She deserved to die Belle!”

“If she deserved to die for what she did to you Rumple, then what about Regina? She locked me in a cell for 28 years. I thought I was going to die in there! I _hate_ her Rumple. More than you know.”

“If you wanted me to kill her for you, all you had to do was ask,” he said.

“That’s just it! As much as I may hate her, I would never want her dead. That would make me no better than she is,” Belle protested.  

“Even if that means that you have to worry about her harming you again?”

Belle nodded. “Yes. Same goes for the pirate.”

Rumple bristled when she mentioned his old rival. After Belle saved his life and banished his would-be killer from the town, Killian Jones apologized for trying to kill her. Additionally, in order to further make amends, he tried to help her research a way to release the fairies that Rumple had trapped in the hat. His researching skills were underwhelming at best, but she had genuinely enjoyed his company.    

 “At the time, I thought you would be happy that I was going to kill him. Then, not only would he no longer have been a threat to you, but his death would have separated me from the dagger. We could have been safe forever, we could have had everything.”

Rumple spoke about Killian like he was a cat that had offered the mangled body of a mouse in its jaws, and assumed its owner would be happy for the gift. Belle often forgot just how feral her husband could be, and wondered how much of that mindset was as a result of the Dark Curse he had to contend with. Wherever it came from, she had to end it right here and now before he hurt anyone else.  

 “We did not need everything!” Belle shouted. “I would have been fine with just you. If I am not in direct danger, there is no need to kill people so that I can feel safe. There is no need to lie to me about how they died! That was the reason why I left you in the first place! Like most good people, I don’t like lying or killing!” 

Rumple turned himself away from her, buried his head in his arms, and began to shake like a leaf.

Belle did not know how to respond. As far as she was concerned, she was just being honest with him. Belle was often unsure how to deal with people who could not handle her honesty. With hesitation, she moved closer to her ex-lover and put her hand on his elbow.

“Rumple…” she whispered.

“I know you don’t, I’m just not strong enough,” he moaned. “You saw just how helpless I was when they were controlling me! I began having nightmares about it in Zelena’s cage and I have had them ever since!”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Belle asked.

“You would not have appreciated being the wife of such a coward.”

“If I had known, I would not have left you, I would have helped.”

“And what if, after all your helping, I was still broken?”

“I would still have stayed.”

“What if, no matter how hard we tried to defend ourselves someone still got hold of the dagger? What if the last thing you saw was my face as I was killing you?”

Belle pictured that moment in her mind. She knew that he would resist the compulsion for as long as he could. Then, once he could bear it no longer, he would end her life as quickly and painlessly as possible, probably whispering to her over and over ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I love you’ with tears streaming down his face.

“Then the last thing I would say to you before I died would be: ‘I love you,’” she replied, and she knew that this was true.

“But you don’t now, because of what I did,” Rumple stated.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Belle replied. She was annoyed with how he had put words into her mouth. It was true that it would be difficult for her to love someone who had betrayed her so thoroughly, yet she knew now why he felt like he had to. Perhaps, now that they had talked about this, they could work things out.

“But what about the Knave?” Rumple asked.

“Will Scarlet?” Belle asked with a laugh. “He’s just a friend, nothing more. Cruella and Ursula were lying to you about him.”

“Then why did you kiss him?”

“I kissed him on the cheek one time. He is madly in love with the Red Queen Ana, and I am trying to help him find her. Of course, such a thing would be far easier to do if we were aided by the most powerful being in all the realms.”

The compliment made Rumple smile for a second, something she had sorely missed. “I am not the most powerful being in all the realms. In fact, if Ana is in another realm then your friend Will is probably out of luck. Realm jumping is not something that comes naturally to me. I had to cast an entire curse to end up in this realm when all the Snow Queen had to do was walk through a door. Besides, I have my own quest. I am trying to ask the Author to give me a happy ending.”

“Rumple, you don’t need to go on a quest to find a happy ending. If you want one with me, all you have to do is stop lying to me and killing people.”

“You seriously want me back?” He asked, his voice full of gratitude.

“If you stop lying to me and killing people.”

Rumple throws his arms around her and hugs her tightly. It’s as if she’s a lifeline and he could never risk letting go.

“I am so sorry Belle. For everything! All the things I tried to do. I thought you would hate me for the rest of my days. I will tell you the truth from now on. I promise.”

“Alright, if you want to start telling me the truth, who was the Oxford professor that was emailing me for the past six weeks?”

Rumple looks sheepish. “How did you know that was me?”

“In this realm there is something called an IP address.  I used that to track down who was sending me those emails. Turns out they weren’t from Oxford but New York City. It was fairly easy for me to figure out who would live in New York City, pretend to be from Oxford, and tell me everything I wanted to know about dark magic.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

Belle smirked. “I wanted to know you were alright. Besides, I needed to release everyone from the hat after all. That meant you could not know that I knew.”

He looked almost proud that she had done something so underhanded. “My darling Belle…” he began to say.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

His mouth collided with hers in an instant. She returned his kiss with one of her own. Soon they were both kissing each other with abandon. He ran his hands all over her body as if marveling that she wanted him to touch her, lingering on her breasts. With nothing between her nipples and his hands but a thin silk nightgown, they quickly pebbled.  She pawed at his shirt, undoing the buttons and exposing his chest. She found that she was just as eager to have her hands on his soft warm skin.

She moved to kissing his neck, breathing in his warm, musky scent. He made contented noises and she felt his throat vibrate with each one. His hands moved lower and he raised her nightgown over her head. Then he moved his head down to her breast.

She undid his fly and pulled his trousers down to his ankles, then freed his length from his boxers. She got him off with both her hands as he fingered her and rubbed her clit. She cried out as her muscles clenched around him.

He threw back his head and began to breathe heavily. Then he grabbed her hands and pulled them away from him.

“It’s been too long,” he confessed. “I’m afraid I’m going to-“

“That’s alright, I want you to let go,” she said. “Please.”

She put her hands back on him. It wasn’t long before his balls tightened and his hips began to pulse. Then he finished into her hand.

“Here, I’ll clean that up,” Rumple said. Then he rose and walked into the back room to get a towel.

Meanwhile Belle just lay with her back against the counter, shaking her head and wondering why the hell she was inviting him back into her life. Taking him back, and trying to work things out honestly with him might have been the worst decision she has ever made. Yet it also had the potential to be the best.

Either way, she was glad she had Archie’s number on speed dial…

****

While Rumple and Belle were trying to repair their thoroughly messed up relationship, Cruella’s relationship with Ursula was besieged with a different problem. Toads were small and could not communicate with people, two things that did not make an ideal girlfriend.

“Oh my darling Ursula! Why must you be so warty and slimy?”

The toad croaked.

“There must be a way I can break this wretched curse!”

The toad croaked again.

“You’re no help! The imp said there was a way for me to break this curse. But how…”

Then Cruella had an idea. Grimacing, she lowered her lips to the toad’s head, and gave it a kiss. A flash of bright magic erupted from where they were standing, making the entire room glow. With the power of Cruella’s True Love, Ursula had been transformed back into a Sea Witch.

“What happened?” Ursula asked. “The last thing I remember was commanding the Dark One to kill his maid.”

Cruella shook her head. “Sadly that did not work out. The maid managed to change you into something more…amphibious.”

“Well,” Ursula replied. “I’m back now.”

“Indeed you are, and we will get revenge on that diminutive man and his silly little floozy.”

Ursula nodded. “Indeed we will.”

Then she moves in to kiss Cruella. “Hold on,” Cruella said as she pulled away. “I want to brush my teeth first.”


End file.
